Monday, May 30, 2016

We showed this little
wonder at the Santa
Fe Master Gardener Association fair (May 14th)
and people flocked to it. It’s called the LGarden.
Short for elevated garden. And designed for what they call new age
gardens—nurseries, greenhouses, and backyard (or patio or balcony or deck)
gardens that are everything you want in a garden, just downsized. And
waist-high.

Which is why
keyboardists love it so much. And people like keyboardists—people who don’t
want to be bending over all the time to tend to their vegetables or herbs or
flowers.

And because it’s
raised, it also protects your plants from animals and other invasive critters
(rabbits, deer, moles, dogs), who can sometimes eat up—in an afternoon—all your
hard work. And not just invasive animals but invasive plants and weeds, too.

Thirty years ago, these
raised “containers” were primarily touted as complementary landscape features.
Something to throw some shrubs or petunias in. Like decorative planters, used
to create a cascading effect.

Lately, though, as more
people have moved into cities or have taken to the farm-to-table concept and
are wanting to grow their own vegetables, or at least their own herbs or
flowers, these elevated gardens have become the perfect alternative to country
gardens and house gardens. And ideal for a patio or balcony.

Not only does their
elevation keep you from putting all that stress on your knees and back, but the
LGarden’s mobility allows you to move your garden to wherever you want it.
Giving your garden the exact amount of sunlight and shade it requires.

And right now is the
perfect time to get started on either a pizza garden or a salsa garden. That’s
because most pizza and salsa plants—tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, basil,
eggplants, arugula, and rosemary, and other herbs—are sun-lovers. And the
LGarden’s mobility allows you to give your pizza and salsa plants all the light
they’ll need to grow you great-tasting ingredients. (Go here
and scroll down for some great ideas on how to get started.)

So come on in to The
Firebird and experience the new high of elevated
gardening.

Friday, April 15, 2016

That
area behind your house? No, that’s no longer the backyard. That’s an outdoor
living space. It’s where you can entertain. Or staycate. Or just relax. What it
is, really, is another room—only one without walls or ceilings. It’s
also the perfect spot for a fireplace, a cauldron, even a pizza oven.

While
the backyard has traditionally given way to swimming pools and gardens, this
reconceptualization of the backyard as an outdoor living space really just means
that that other part of the backyard—the back patio, the area between the back
of the house and the lip of the pool or the edge of a row of flowers, that
space where your grill has tended to sit lonely and neglected (even during the
spring and summer), yes, that prime piece of real estate—has plenty of
potential. And people have finally realized it. They’ve taken the indoors to
the outside; they’ve started creating their own backyard getaways.

The
centerpiece to any outdoor entertaining, of course, revolves around food.
Grilled food. And grilled food requires a grill. Which we have plenty of at The Firebird—gas and charcoal grills
from Napoleon, Primo’s ceramic wood grills, the infrared gas grills of Saber and TEC, and FireMagic’s BBQ
gas grills. Once you’ve picked out the grill that’s right
for you, that’ll help you build out the rest of your backyard from there.

In a sense, then, the
grilling area of your backyard becomes your outdoor kitchen, which can range
from a simple built-in grill to something more expansive—refrigeration,
plumbing, audio-visual hookups, architectural lighting. And whether the grill
you choose is a tote-able or a built-in, having your kitchen outside means you
can prepare meals and be around your guests.

And if a grill alone isn’t enough, if you’re intent on larger
seating areas, a bigger patio, installing
cold-water and waste lines for a sink or an out door refrigerator, or task
lighting; keep in mind that whatever money you
spend on your outdoor kitchen will increase your home’s value.

But
you don’t have to entirely remodel your backyard in order to entertain outside.
A pergola, or an umbrella or even curtains strung up to keep the New Mexico sun
off the cooks and the guests during the day; a big enough surface for food prep
(stone is often the best, as it’s made to weather); and a simple picnic-style
table with a bench or fold-out chairs. You don’t need much more than these
basics to entertain and enjoy.

And
the ultimate outdoor-kitchen accessory, of
course—a fireplace­. Or a fire pit. And just by raising the hearth around
either you’ve turned it into another bench for you and your guests. Your
outdoor fireplace will provide enjoyment year-round.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Being able to start your own fire is almost
like being able to change your own tire. These days, though, there are more
than a few inexpensive and easy-to-use firestarter products that can light up
your fireplace or wood stove, in about half the time it takes to change a tire,
and without the use of either kindling or newspaper.

One of the fastest firestarters is EZ Fire Firewood Starter, a kind of
gel-wax byproduct of diesel manufacturing. Like pretty much everything at The
Firebird, it’s ecologically sound (and recycled). Packaged in a flat plastic
squeeze tube that’s like an oversized packet of ketchup (or energy paste), it’s
paraffin-based and as soon as you light it up, the gel oozes out over the log
in a little river of fire—“Like bacon fat,” says The Firebird’s Kelley Nace, as
he demonstrates in one of the store’s many showroom fireplaces. “Or napalm.” It
burns for about five to ten minutes, and whatever it oozes onto catches fire as
well.

Another convenient firestarter is the Seymour Fire Blox—little cubes of
pressed (and recycled) cardboard. Set a piece beneath a log or a hunk of wood,
put a match to it, and—presto!—fire. These Blox are lightweight (excellent for
camping and favored by outdoorspeople everywhere), and they, too, burn for five
to ten minutes.

The third option is fatwood, Genuine Georgia Fatwood, which The
Firebird offers in small burlap-ish bags. They’re a bit like kindling, but
these sticks of longleaf pine were once used to make turpentine, and the ones
sold here come mostly from Georgia and elsewhere in the South (where they’ve
been harvested from long-dead tree stumps). They catch fire as quickly as the
EZ Fire and the Blox, and they’re also good for camping and will even light up
damp logs. Known locally as acote,
these fatwood sticks haven’t been treated with any chemicals and are
all-natural. (Although, if you were to throw a whole bag’s worth into the
fireplace, they’d coat the inside of your chimney with creosote.)

Sure, you can go with dryer lint or cotton
balls soaked in Vaseline, or the wax-coated cardboard boxes grocery stores use
for shipping fruits and vegetables, or kindling—or even Fritos brand corn chips
(yes, they’re rumored to be a great firestarter).

But take caution with things like pallets
(which tend to be coated with chemicals to preserve the wood and make it less
flammable and/or bug resistant) or railroad ties (which give off that harsh
smell of tar). And while plenty of people still use newspapers, clumps of
yesterday’s news tend to drift upward with the heat in a fireplace, where the
paper can sometimes clog up the chimney’s cap-spark screens or, in a stove, gum
up the catalytic combustor. And never use any type of liquid charcoal lighter.

Basically, though, the fastest, easiest, and
healthiest firestarters are the Fire Blox, the EZ Fire Starters, and the
Georgia Fatwood.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

The chill in the air and a dusting of snow makes
all of us in Santa Fe start dreaming of that first fire of the season. And then
reality hits…the wood pile is empty. Time to prepare to cut and gather
firewood. But before you go, we have some advice on the where to go, which
trees to select, and how much wood to harvest. Knowing this information can
help you harvest inexpensive fuel while improving the health of the forest.

1.Cut
Where It Is Allowed - Unless
you are cutting on your own property, you need permission from the landowner or
a permit to cut in New Mexico BLM land.

2.Cut
Close To Home - If you
must drive more than 75 miles to reach the woodlot, your transportation costs
may make the firewood more expensive than other fuels.

3.Avoid
Fragile Sites - In
some locations, living trees are more valuable than the wood that could be
obtained by felling them. For example, windbreak, stream-bank, and hillside
forests are essential to soil and water conservation. Consult your state
forester before you thin trees in such areas.

4.Cut in
Spring - Wood must be seasoned before
it will burn properly. It seasons most quickly during the hot, dry days of
summer, and only after it has been cut from the stump. The wood that you plan
to use in late fall should therefore be cut no later than the previous spring.

5.Cut
Diseased Trees - To
preserve the vigor of healthy trees, it is desirable to remove trees that have
contagious diseases or serious insect infestations.

6.Cut
Damaged Trees - Trees
that have poor stems or small crowns and those that have been damaged by
lightning, past logging practices, wind, insects, or grazing should be salvaged
for fire wood. Such trees will not usually become more attractive with age, nor
will they increase in value for timber.

7.Thin
and Prune - Thinning is the cutting of
selected trees to reduce overall tree density. Thinning improves the growth
conditions for the remaining trees and should be considered when the the trees
are 15 to 25 years old. Pruning is the removal of the lower branches so that
the tree will produce clear, high-grade lumber or veneer logs. Pruning should
start when the trees are 4 inches in diameter.

8.Protect
the Terrain – Leave your vehicle on
established roads & carry wood to your vehicle.Tires ruts can last for years and lead to
harmful soil erosion.